Several special events in Toronto this weekend will involve road closures. Residents and visitors are encouraged to come out and enjoy these events. Businesses in the areas affected are open to pedestrian traffic but some roads will be closed to vehicles.

Festivals and other special events are important to the city, injecting hundreds of millions of dollars annually into Toronto’s economy, and they are enjoyed each year by local residents.

In addition to road closures related to special events, a significant amount of road work is taking place in the city. People are encouraged to take public transit as a greener, faster and more affordable way of getting to their destinations.

Those who need to drive in the general vicinity of special events should allow extra time to get to and from their destination. A more complete list of events and road work in Toronto is available at http://www.toronto.ca/torontostreets/. More information about the City's planned capital construction work is available at http://www.toronto.ca/inview.

Taste of Little Italy
College Street from Bathurst Street to Shaw Street will be closed in both directions from Friday, June 19 at 6:30 p.m. to Monday, June 22 at 2 a.m.

Church Street Summer Festival
Church Street from Wood Street to Gloucester Street will be closed from Friday, June 19 at 6 p.m. to Monday, June 22 at 2 a.m. Wellesley Street will be open to traffic.

North by Northeast Music Festival
Yonge Street from Dundas Street to Queen Street will be closed each night from 7 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 19, Saturday, June 20 and Sunday, June 21.

Fairbank Village BIA Multicultural Celebration
Eglinton Avenue from Dufferin Street to Ronald Avenue will be closed from Saturday, June 20 at 2 a.m. to Monday, June 22 at 5 a.m. A number of smaller streets in this area will also be partially closed to accommodate this event.

Port Union Village Waterfront Festival
Port Union Road (south of Lawrence Avenue) will be closed in both directions from south of Shoalhaven Drive to Bridgend Street on Saturday, June 20 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Bridgend Street will be closed in both directions from Port Union Road to the east part of Vessel Crescent.

Toronto Triathlon Festival
• The eastbound lanes of the Gardiner Expressway from the Humber River to Carlaw Avenue will be closed on Sunday, June 21 from 2 a.m. to noon. All westbound lanes of the Gardiner Expressway will remain open.
• The northbound lanes of the Don Valley Parkway from the Gardiner Expressway to Eglinton Avenue will be closed on Sunday, June 21 from 2 a.m. to noon. All southbound lanes of the Don Valley Parkway will remain open.
• One eastbound lane of Lake Shore Boulevard from Windermere Avenue to Strachan Avenue/Remembrance Drive will be closed on Sunday, June 21 from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Journey to Conquer Cancer Run/Walk 5K
A series of road closures will take place for this event on Sunday, June 21 from 8 a.m. to noon in the area bounded by McCaul Street to the west, Bloor Street to the north, Bay Street to the east and Gerrard Street to the south.

Muchmusic Video Awards
There will be a series of road closures in the area bounded by Richmond Street in the south, Queen Street in the north, Simcoe Street in the east and Peter Street in the west from Sunday, June 21 at 4 p.m. to Monday, June 22 at 3 a.m.

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.